ukactive has launched a new consultation that will help to shape the future of children’s physical activity across the UK.
The consultation will focus on developing opportunities in three key areas: the organisations and institutions that children and young people experience, the physical environment that children and young people grow up in and the social environment that children interact with.
ukactive wants written evidence which captures the views of children, young people, parents, teachers, activity providers, social workers, policy experts, business leaders, healthcare professionals and anyone else with a stake in children’s health to help plot the next chapter in the health of Britain’s children.
The deadline for responses is Friday 1 June 2018.
More information is available below:

Taking part in sport protects children who are abused or neglected from developing mental health problems in later life, according to a major public health study.
People who had adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) but regularly played sports as children were less likely to have a mental illness as an adult, the study found. People who had traumatic childhoods were also more likely to be mentally healthy if they took part in sport as adults.
The study confirmed a strong link between ACEs, which include sexual and physical abuse, parental separation and living with domestic violence, and mental illness as an adult. It said people who had four or more ACEs were four times more likely to be receiving treatment for current mental illnesses and 10 times more likely to have self-harmed or felt suicidal than those who had experienced none.
Read more below:

This latest release from the Office for National Statistics provides an analysis of the UK Time Use Survey. This looks at the amount of time children spend engaging with the outdoors and sports activities.
Key findings
• Children aged 8 to 15 years in the UK spent just over an hour (68 minutes) of their leisure time on average per day taking part in an outdoor activity, sports-related activity or travelling on foot or by bicycle.
• Children spent three times longer on sports and exercise activities (33 minutes) than entertainment and culture activities (11 minutes).
• Boys spent on average 40 minutes per day on sports activities compared with 25 minutes for girls.
• The average amount of leisure time children spent in parks, countryside, seaside, beach or coastal locations was 16 minutes per day.
• Children reported greater enjoyment ratings when taking part in entertainment and culture activities (6.4 out of 7) and sports and exercise activities (6.3) than for other outdoor activities.
Read more here:

Report cards on the physical activity of children and youth across the world have been released revealing how countries compare in getting their youth active.
Active Healthy Kids Global Alliance was responsible for organising the cards which graded countries on nine common indicators, overall physical activity, organised sport participation, active play, active transportation, sedentary behavior, family and peers, school community and the built environment and government strategies and investment. The cards reflect standardised grading across countries ranging from A= excellent to F = failing.
In the UK, the grades given for overall physical activity are:
England D
Scotland F
Wales D
There is no data available for Northern Ireland.

In the new year, the Take Life On campaign aims to increase awareness among C1C2DE parents of the recommended physical activity guidelines for children of 60 minutes per day and that being overweight during childhood leads to risks of cancer, type 2 diabetes and heart disease in later life.